Road crews throughout the area are preparing for snow.
The National Weather Service said today the area could see some lightly accumulating snow between 10 p.m. tonight and 2 a.m. tomorrow morning.
In anticipation of the possible snowflakes, The Virginia Department of Transportation says it’s preparing area roads for wintry weather tonight through the weekend.
From a VDOT press release:
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) officials will hold a public meeting Thursday to show its place for a proposed design for the widening of Elden Street between Monroe Street and the Fairfax County Parkway in Herndon.
Officials hope the project will reduce traffic congestion, improve safety and enhance access to and from the busy Fairfax County Parkway.
Planned improvements include widening East Elden Street (Route 606) from four lanes to six between Herndon Parkway and Fairfax County Parkway, as well as improving access management from Van Buren Street to Herndon Parkway.
Other planned improvements include a new raised median with streetscaping between Van Buren Street and Herndon Parkway, moving utilities between Monroe Street and Fairfax County Parkway underground, and replacing the culvert over Sugarland Run with a new bridge.
The proposed design also features accommodations for cyclists and pedestrians, including enhanced facilities like on-street bike lanes between Monroe Street and Herndon Parkway, and off-street bike lanes from east of Herndon Parkway to Fairfax County Parkway.
VDOT officials say they hope to have plans approved by the spring, though it could take a few years to receive authorization for right-of-way funding, and to advertise to potential construction companies for the job. All in all, construction could begin in the spring of 2022.
The total costs of the project, including preliminary engineering, right-of-way and construction, add up to just under $35 million.
Thursday’s meeting will take place at the Herndon Senior Center, located at 873 Grace St. The public is invited to drop by to view the plans and talk with officials anytime between 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Comments can also be sent to VDOT directly anytime before Nov. 28. by e-mailing [email protected] or by sending mail to Mr. Hamid Misaghian, P.E., Project Manager, Virginia Department of Transportation, 4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA, 22030.
View the East Elden Street Widening project page online for more information.
Image: VDOT/Google Maps
Over the next two weekends crews will complete maintenance and improvements to the Reston North/Wiehle Avenue park-and-ride lot.
That’s the long,skinny lot near the intersection of Sunset Hills Road and Isaac Newton Square.
Here is the schedule, weather permitting:
- This weekend (Aug. 27 and 28), crews will rope off sections of the lot to cut vegetation for better parking and aisle access.
- The lot will be closed entirely from 5 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3 through 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 5 in order to refresh pavement markings and make signage improvements.
About 35 new signs will be installed, with existing signs replaced, removed or relocated to designate legal and illegal parking, the Virginia Department of Transportation said in a release.
The lot will also be increasing its capacity. Pavement markings throughout the lot will be refreshed, with some reconfigured to add six additional spaces. The new lot capacity will be 340.
The lot formerly served as parking for buses that would take commuters to Metro Stations at Vienna and West Falls Church. It now serves as free parking for the 300+ commuters who arrive early enough to find a space there instead of in the pay ($4.85 daily) garage adjacent to the 3,000-space Wiehle-Reston East station. It sees few cars on weekends as parking in the garages is free on those days.
Photo courtesy VDOT
The Virginia Department of Transportation, in cooperation with Fairfax County, is holding three public information meetings this month on a multimodal study of the 31-mile Fairfax County Parkway (Route 286) corridor from Route 7 to Route 1.
The study is assessing existing transportation issues and developing short-term multimodal improvements that can be implemented within the next 1 to 10 years.
This project began in 2014 and is expected to be completed by early 2017. It Includes the following activities:
• Traffic/Safety Data Analysis – Spring 2015
• Identify Issues – Spring 2015
• Analysis of Existing Conditions – Fall 2015/Winter 2015-2016
• Identify & Evaluate Improvements – Winter 2015-2016/Spring 2016
• Public Information Meetings – June 2016
• Finalize Evaluations/Final Project Documentation – Winter 2016/2017
The public is invited to stop by to learn more about the study, view displays and discuss questions with VDOT and Fairfax County staff at one three meetings.
The closest meeting to Reston is on Thursday, June 9 at Oak Hill Elementary School, 3210 Kinross Circle, Herndon.
Other meetings will be held
Wednesday, June 8 at Hayfield Secondary School, 7630 Telegraph Road, Alexandria and Monday, June 13 at Sangster Elementary School, 7420 Reservation Drive, Springfield,
All meeting times are 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., with a presentation at 7 p.m.
Comments maysent to VDOT by July 5.
Visit the VDOT project page for more details.
Photo: Fairfax County Parkway/VDOT
After the snow comes the inevitable potholes.
Rather than getting mad, get active — as in tell the Virginia Department of Transportation (or whomever is responsible for the street) the pothole’s location and get on the fix-it list.
First, determine who is responsible for the road. Most of the major arteries in Fairfax County are in VDOT’s jurisdiction, but check out this map that will show you who maintains every street in the county. Fairfax County itself is not responsible for pothole fixes.
You can then access VDOT’s new online reporting tool, which makes it easier to pinpoint exactly where you see a pothole. You can also report potholes directly from your mobile device and include images (but don’t try this while driving, of course).
You can also call VDOT at 800-FOR-ROAD to report potholes or ask who maintains a road.
So which roads in Reston are not VDOT roads?
- Dulles Toll Road, contact the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority.
- Many private roads are maintained by businesses, apartment/condo complexes, homeowner/civic associations or residents. If you know there’s a pothole on a road that’s privately maintained, contact your HOA or the business that’s responsible.
Photo: pothole/file photo
Warmer temperatures have contributed to significant melting of the record snow this week, but one problem still plaguing Reston-area roads is narrow access — two-lane roads are now one-lane roads in many spots.
Snowplow piles and lanes that haven’t been plowed are on many roads, making it slow-going or even dangerous on major streets.
Many Reston Now readers pointed out some of the worst trouble spots on Reston Now’s Facebook page this morning:
There are also some roads in which one side only has half a lane (Twin Branches is one of them, I’m sure there are a lot more), with the the right half of the lane completely blocked by snow mounds. Which means if you’re driving in a full lane, you may pass someone going the opposite way who is literally being forced to straddle the yellow lane. Please, people, show some courtesy and move over to the right as far as you can so everyone can move.
The other bad street for me is Soapstone north of Glade. The plowed part starts on the far left moves to the center then back over the left. This leaves you w/o proper lane markings.
Soapstone from Glade to Sunrise Valley. Downright scary yesterday.
It took me 45 minutes to drive 2 miles in Reston at rush hour last night.
The Virginia Department of Transportation says “crews have worked around-the-clock to make all roads in northern Virginia passable post-blizzard, but there is still some clean-up to do.”
By 3 p.m. Thursday, Sunrise Valley Drive, for instance, had been cleared edge-to-edge, but nearby Soapstone Drive still had people driving in the turn lane.
“Crews are working to widen and restore remaining snow-impacted lanes on primary and high-volume secondary roads,” said VDOT spokeswoman Jennifer McCord. “Clearing efforts will continue through the week, using equipment such as front loaders and motor graders to move snow where plows are unable to push.” Read More
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) says its goal is to make one lane of all Northern Virginia subdivisions passable by Wednesday at 6 a.m., but the daunting amount of snow is one of many factors that has impeded speedy snow removal.
The agency, which is responsible for most of Virginia’s primary and secondary roads, said in a statement that “crews are making significant progress on 16,000 subdivision streets across Northern Virginia. If residents do not have one passable lane by 6 a.m. tomorrow, they can contact VDOT at 1-800-FOR-ROAD or [email protected].
VDOT says passable is defined as the ability for a rear wheel drive vehicle to operate safely. This means that roads will not be cleared down to bare pavement and will not be cleared curb to curb.
“VDOT has approximately almost four times the amount of equipment available in previous years,” VDOT said. “The type of equipment needed for this phase of the response is of a much larger scale and complexity. The smaller plows that VDOT typically uses in subdivision are effective up to 10 inches of snow. Some neighborhoods of Northern Virginia received upwards of 40 inches of snow and require heavier equipment.”
The blizzard that dumped about three feet of snow in this area over the weekend was “historic,” VDOT officials said. As with previous large storms, (i.e. in 2003 and 2010), they are urging residents to be patient.
Fairfax County officials say they do not have an explanation about what went wrong on area roads when an inch or so of snow fell during Wednesday night’s rush hour.
People reported being stuck in their cars for hours as they tried to get home. Twenty-minute commutes turned into two-hour ordeals all around the Beltway.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), and not the county, is responsible for treating most area roads.
Since VDOT — as well as Northern Virginia residents — have had about five days of preparation and warning about the storm expected to begin Friday afternoon, road treatment should be much more effective than on Wednesday, officials said.
“Do they [VDOT] need to do better? Absolutely,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova said at a press conference Thursday afternoon. Read More
The Virginia Department of Transportation says the newly built third lanes in each direction on Route 7 from Rolling Holly Drive to Reston Avenue are now open.
The $34 million project to widen the mile-and-a-half stretch of Route 7 also includes shared-use paths, lengthened turn lanes, a new signal at Redberry Court and intersection improvements at Georgetown Pike and Seneca Road. All work is scheduled to be complete in early January.
Drivers can expect some intermittent daytime lane closures as crews work on the project’s final details, says VDOT.
The expanded lanes should alleviate traffic tie-ups from Reston through Great Falls to Sterling.
Northern Virginia’s snow removal budget has increased by $20 million for this winter. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will likely need the money as it spent more than double its allotted amount last winter.
VDOT has $70.7 million for snow removal and road maintenance for 2015-16. Last winter’s budget for Northern Virginia was about $50.5 million and $128.5 million was spent, VDOT officials said last week.
The region’s snow budget is part of VDOT’s statewide maintenance budget of approximately $1.5 billion.
“Each year, we strive to improve our winter operations both on the road and behind the scenes,” Branco Vlacich, VDOT’s maintenance engineer for Northern Virginia, said at the agency’s annual snow briefing last week.
Vlacich said high-tech tools, such as a real-time map on VDOT’s website that shows the progress of plows, continue to be a good resource for citizens. This will be VDOT’s third winter with the map.
“Over two years, we’ve seen hits to the site increase while customer calls decrease, as residents check road conditions, locations of our trucks and the progress of our crews,” Vlacich said.
When it snows more than two inches, residents can enter their address at www.vdotplows.org to see whether plowing is underway, completed or not yet started in their neighborhood. They can also track the location of plows in relationship to their house. The site is refreshed every five minutes.
VDOT is responsible for 17,737 miles of road in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties (Arlington County maintains its own secondary roads). About half of those miles are highways or high-volume routes, and half are neighborhood streets. During winter weather in northern Virginia, crews remove snow on both networks concurrently.
In Reston, main roads such as Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston Parkway, Sunset Hills Road, Lawyer Road, Fairfax County Parkway and Glade Drive are VDOT-plowed roads. Most neighborhoods, especially clusters, have private snowplowing contracts. Reston Association is not in charge of plowing Reston roads, though it does plow the 55 miles of paths, and will team with Fairfax County to plow several county-owned paths that will improve pedestrian access this winter.
VDOT is not responsible for sidewalks, even on VDOT-plowed roads, which continues to be a source of discussion and frustration among Reston residents each winter.
VDOT will have more than 3,500 contracted trucks and plows on the available this winter. Special equipment for some trucks will include a jet-powered snow melter for Park-n-Ride lots where snow piles can block spaces; seven high-pressure flush trucks clear snow and ice around the bollards separating the I-495 Express Lanes and regular lanes; two front loaders with 20-foot blades plow interstates during severe storms; speed-activated anti-icing equipment puts the right amount of material on the road.
VDOT file photo
Reston may be getting closer to a bikeshare system.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday endorsed the county’s applications for the Virginia Department of Transportation’s FY 2017 Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) Grant Application.
The county hopes to get $400,000 from the state as seed money for bike share program. Other projects seeking funding are Vienna Metrorail bicycle access improvements; a cinder bed bike path near the Franconia-Springfield Metro station; and improvements for bike access on Van Dorn Street in Alexandria.
Applications for the grant program are due Nov. 1.
County biking authorities conducted a feasibility study on a Reston bikeshare in 2014. They will give an update on the progress of the bikeshare plan Oct. 29 at Dogwood Elementary School at 7 p.m.
Capital Bikeshare, which has suburban programs in Alexandria, Arlington, and Rockville, Md., would offer those who live and work in Reston an additional way to access the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, as well as the future Reston Town Center station, Reston Town Center and other location.
The capital equipment needed for a Reston bikeshare station includes docking stations, bicycles and kiosks. The current projection is for 13 stations and 130 bicycles, which will cost about $766,000
The county will request $400,000 from TAP and pay $100,000 in county funds for the program. That would leave an additional $266,000 in funding necessary to get the program started.
The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) guidelines state applicants are required to provide a 20 percent match, with grant awards covering the 80 percent remaining. Local jurisdictions are also required to pay for any cost overruns.
VDOT’s TAP regulations require the sponsoring jurisdiction to accept responsibility for future maintenance and operating costs of any projects that are funded.
Photo: Bikesharing in Arlington/ARLnow.com file photo
Repairs to Reston Parkway’s bridge over the Dulles Toll Road will be part of a Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) $5.6 million project next spring.
VDOT says it will be performing preventative maintenance projects on bridges on Monroe Street, the Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride Ramp and Reston Parkway in advance of Metro’s Silver Line Phase 2, which is currently under construction.
The main purpose of the project is eliminating and closing the bridge deck joints above the Silver Line tracks. Doing it before Phase 2 opens in 2019 will save VDOT money in the end, the department says.
“Future construction of the tracks in the median of Route 267 (the Dulles Toll Road) will limit the access to the bridge existing piers,” VDOT said in a statement. “The cost of performing any future repairs to the bridge piers would need to include cost of coordination with Metro, which would significantly increase future repair costs.”
The Reston Parkway dual bridges over the Toll Road are 385-foot.-long, six-simple- span, steel plate girder bridges.
The northbound bridge was constructed in 1959 and widened and deck-replaced in 1989. The northbound total bridge width is 42.33 feet and consists of a 1.66-foot raised median, one-foot shoulder, three 12-foot traffic lanes, two-foot shoulder and 1.66-foot barrier.
The southbound bridge was constructed in 1976 and widened in 1989. The southbound total bridge width is 51.66 feet and consists of a 1.66-foot raised median, one-foot shoulder, three 12-foot.traffic lanes, three-foot shoulder, 1.66-ft. barrier, 8.33-foot. path and one-foot curb with pedestrian fence.
The Monroe Street/Van Buren Street dual bridges over the Toll Road are 378-foot-long, six-single-span, steel plate girder bridges. There is a 38-foot gap between the northbound and southbound bridges. The northbound bridge was constructed in 1963, and the deck was milled and overlaid in 1989. The southbound bridge was constructed in 1989.
The Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride Ramp bridge is a 613-foot-long, seven-single-span, steel plate girder bridge. The bridge was constructed in 1999.
Here is more cost and scheduling info:
Monroe Street/Van Buren Street Bridge Joint Closures
Anticipated Schedule
Advertisement for construction – March 2016
Construction – May 2016
Estimated Costs
Preliminary engineering – $180,000
Construction – $530,000
Total – $710,000
Herndon-Monroe Park and Ride Ramp Bridge Joint Closures
Anticipated Schedule
Advertisement for construction – March 2016
Construction – May 2016
Estimated Costs
Preliminary engineering – $168,000
Construction – $500,000
Total – $668,000
Reston Parkway Bridges Deck Mill and Overlay and Barrier Repair
Anticipated Schedule
Advertisement for construction – March 2016
Construction – May 2016
Estimated Costs
Preliminary engineering – $132,000
Construction – $1.4 million
Total – $1.5 million
Reston Parkway Bridge Joint Closures
Anticipated Schedule
Advertisement for construction – March 2016
Construction – May 2016
Estimated Costs
Preliminary engineering – $200,000
Construction – $2.5 million
Total – $2.7 million
Photo: Bridge over Dulles Toll Road/Credit: VDOT
Wednesday night into Thursday morning, traffic on eastbound Route 7 between Rolling Holly Drive and Reston Avenue near Great Falls will shift into new temporary lanes as the Virginia Department of Transportation works on widening Route 7.
The Virginia Department of Transportation says the change will begin Wednesday at 9 p.m. and the lane shift should be complete by 5 p.m. Thursday.
In addition, Sugarland Road at Route 7 will be closed to traffic until late September/early October so that the intersection can be reconstructed and improved, says VDOT.
Motorists will be detoured via Fairfax County Parkway. Detour signs will be in place to direct local traffic around the closure.
The work is part of the third phase of construction for the project to widen Route 7 from four to six lanes between Rolling Holly Drive and Reston Avenue. The $34 million project is scheduled for completion in December.
Bike trails. Safe Routes to School. Turning rails to trails. Better sidewalks in Reston. Even reducing vegetation to make trails and sidewalks more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly.
Fairfax County wants your comments and ideas on potential transportation alternative projects, which could get primarily funded by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Fairfax County will hold a public meeting on Sept. 17 (7 p.m. at Fairfax County Department of Transportation, 4050 Legato Road, Suite 400, Fairfax) to solicit comments on the proposed FY 2016 Transportation Alternative Program projects
After approval by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the program’s projects will be eligible for submission to VDOT funding under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, also known as MAP-21.
This program provides 80 percent of the funds for each eligible project. A 20 percent local match is required. Any project presented to the board for endorsement must have an identified source of funding for this match.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has established criteria for activities or improvements eligible under the MAP-21 Transportation Alternatives provision. The alternatives are activities or improvements that increase the value of a transportation project or make it more aesthetically pleasing.
Eligible activities under the Transportation Alternatives Program:
Transportation Alternatives: Construction, planning, and design of on-road and off-road trail facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other non-motorized forms of transportation, including sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle signals, traffic calming techniques, lighting and other safety-related infrastructure, and transportation projects to achieve compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Construction, planning, and design of infrastructure-related projects and systems that will provide safe routes for non-drivers, including children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities to access daily needs.
Conversion and use of abandoned railroad corridors for trails for pedestrians, bicyclists, or other non-motorized transportation users.
Construction of turnouts, overlooks, and viewing areas.
Community improvement activities, including-inventory, control, or removal of outdoor advertising; historic preservation and rehabilitation of historic transportation facilities; vegetation management practices in transportation rights-of-way to improve roadway safety, prevent against invasive species, and provide erosion control; and
archaeological activities.Any environmental mitigation activity, including pollution prevention and pollution abatement activities and mitigation to-address stormwater management, control, and water pollution prevention or abatement related to highway construction or due to highway runoff; or reduce vehicle-caused wildlife mortality or to restore and maintain connectivity among terrestrial or aquatic habitats.
The Recreational Trails program under section 206 of title 23.
The Safe Routes to School program under section 1404 of the SAFETEA-LU.
Infrastructure-related projects-planning, design, and construction of infrastructure-related projects on any public road or any bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail in the vicinity of schools that will substantially improve the ability of students to walk and bicycle to school, including sidewalk improvements, traffic calming and speed reduction improvements, pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street bicycle and pedestrian facilities, secure bicycle parking facilities, and traffic diversion improvements in the vicinity of schools.
Non-infrastructure-related activities to encourage walking and bicycling to school, including public awareness campaigns and outreach to press and community leaders, traffic education and enforcement in the vicinity of schools, student sessions on bicycle and pedestrian safety, health, and environment, and funding for training, volunteers, and managers of safe routes to school programs.
Safe Routes to School coordinator.
Planning, designing, or constructing boulevards and other roadways largely in the right-of-way of former Interstate System routes or other divided highways.
It’s pothole season in Northern Virginia.
The Virginia Department of Transportation says it has filled more than 10,000 potholes in Fairfax and surrounding counties as of late last week. Crews are using a “cold” and “hot” mix asphalt, with both mechanized and hand work to fill the holes.
Crews also have the mechanized “pothole killers” that shoot a temporary asphalt patch. VDOT owns two “Python 5000s,” which make a permanent patch with a scraper and roller in about two minutes. There are only a handful of Pythons in use in the United States, with about 30 total in operation, says VDOT.
Crews are also using Aquaphalt, a fast-drying material that creates a durable, permanent patch.
VDOT also says it will start a $168 million paving project in April that will further improve roads and rides for drivers across the region.
“This is the largest paving season we’ve seen in Northern Virginia,” said Branco Vlacich, VDOT’s district maintenance engineer, said in a statement. “We estimate crews will place about one million tons of asphalt and four million linear feet of pavement markings this spring.”
Vlacich says the $168 million in paving includes “31 lane miles of interstates, almost 50 lane miles of primary routes as well as extensive paving on secondary roads and neighborhood streets of almost 1,000 lane miles. Crews are also extending the life of more than 110 lane miles with preventative maintenance such as latex and sealing.”
See roads scheduled for paving in Northern Virginia, see this interactive map on VDOT’s website.
Regarding potholes, VDOT asks drivers to continue to be alert to lane closures for patching. Crews in northern Virginia are on the road from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays, and may work other times outside of rush hours.
Drivers can report potholes to VDOT online or to operators 24/7 at VDOT’s Customer Service Center at 800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623).
VDOT is responsible for the vast majority of roads in Fairfax County. Some roads are maintained by the county, however. If you see damage on a county road, call 703-877-2800. In Reston, many residential streets are maintained privately. If there is damage on your street, contact your homeowners association.
For more information on how potholes form and what to do if your car sustains damage, visit this VDOT page.
Have you seen any potholes that still need attention in Reston? Tell us in the comments.
Photo: Pothole/Credit: State Farm Insurance
